"Jere Lull" wrote

I'm SO glad I don't have to pay those fuel bills.

I see by the address in your signature file that you will be. Don't worry
though. It's not as bad as it looks. Full speed operation is limited to
10% of operation by engine rating and the boat will spend most of it's
cruising time burning about half of that. Most of it's overall time will be
spent on scientific station burning just 5 - 10 GPH.

BTW, it's also one of the smallest vessels in the world to have dynamic
positioning. Give it a command and it will stay within a couple meters of a
spot over the bottom and maintain heading. Yesterday, I watched it back
slowly up to a buoy to the position where it could be attached to the
A-frame in a 25 knot wind. This was under completely automatic control while
we just stood and watched. It then stopped at the right point and just sat
there. The autopilot is part of the DPS system which is connected to the
LAN and the satellite Internet so, with the several video cameras on board,
you could literally sit at your computer on land and drive it around with no
one aboard.

Very cool.

--
Roger Long